On the recordJuly 24, 2012
I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, it appears as though we agree on certain things. We agree that some transparency is required. We certainly agree, on a bipartisan basis, that what the GAO did, under Dodd-Frank, at a minimum, was a good thing. I think there's no question my colleague who was here earlier, Mr. Frank, certainly would agree to the numbers, the expansion of the Fed in that period that Mrs. Lummis talked about between 2008 and now. I think we would all agree the Federal Reserve is the people's bank. It is broadly owned by 316 or 320 million Americans. I served on the board of a public company, one that I founded. I understand that if you have more than 500 stockholders, you have an obligation to considerable disclosure. Although the Fed is audited to see whether, basically, some numbers are correct or not on a limited basis, the truth is the Federal Reserve is not open and transparent, not even years after they make decisions. I think the American people have a piercing question right now, one that is not the question that Dr. Paul was asking when he first wanted to audit the Fed. The question is, Will we be like Greece? Will we be like Germany? Will we be like the trauma that's sweeping over the European Union? Do we, in fact, know the true numbers? Do we know the extent of the leverage and the policies and the accuracy and the knowledge of the Federal Reserve? I think calmly we have to ask that question.…
